Running on Empty

Running on Empty (1988) is a drama directed by Sidney Lumet — watch it online on iFILM. The Pope family has been living under false names for fifteen years. Back in the late sixties, the parents bombed a military lab to protest the Vietnam War. Since then, no city holds them longer than a few months.

Their eldest son Danny is seventeen. River Phoenix plays him — one of his finest performances — a kid with perfect pitch who's just been offered a place at a top music conservatory. He has his first real love. He has a way out. Taking it means walking away from his parents, played by Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti as people who don't regret their choices but can't ignore what those choices cost their children.

Sidney Lumet keeps the politics in the background and lets the family dynamics do the work. The screenplay by Naomi Foner earned an Academy Award nomination in 1989. Stream Running on Empty in full on iFILM.